Virgin Australia extends the expiration date for COVID-19 flight credits!
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Have you been holding onto COVID-19 flight credits and wondering when you’ll finally have the chance to fly?
Well, we have some great news for you!
For the third time, Virgin Australia has made a huge change for those with COVID-19 flight credits that are due to expire in a few months.
The COVID-related travel credits, valued at $120 million, were initially set to expire in December. These credits encompass bookings made starting from April 21, 2020, for flights scheduled to depart before July 31, 2022.
However, due to pressure from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), the airline has extended the expiry date to June 2025!
In a statement, a Virgin spokesperson commented on the decision: 'Virgin Australia has extended its 'COVID Credits' for the third time, giving our customers nearly two more years to use these credits.'
'Customers will now be able to use their 'COVID Credits' to book and fly by June 30th 2025.'
'COVID Credits' are Standard Credits issued on or before 31 July 2022, for bookings made from 21 April 2020 through 31 July 2022.
'During this period, over $1.2 billion of 'COVID Credits' were issued.”
To date, around 90% of those 'COVID Credits' have already been used by customers.
The extension of the credits will be automatically applied to all 'COVID Credits', and the change may take up to two months to reflect in guests' Travel Banks.
These credits can be used to book any Virgin Australia flight and include codeshare flights with partners such as Singapore Airlines, United Airlines, ANA, and Qatar Airways, which also use a VA flight number.
Despite not having the option to refund the credits, using it requires no minimum spend, and the credits are not limited to use by the travellers on the original booking.
It is also important to note that these credits differ from their Future Flight Credits, which were issued for flights cancelled when the airline went into administration in 2020.
An ACCC spokesperson said they encouraged all airlines to extend expiry dates for all COVID-19 flight credits 'to ensure consumers are able to effectively use these credits'.
'This included providing guidance for the travel industry recommending that businesses should allow consumers a reasonable period in which to use Covid-related credits,' the spokesperson said.
However, the ACCC acknowledged that the flight credits issued under Future Flight Credits were a special case.
'In such administration processes, the new business is generally able to choose what liabilities of the old business it will or won’t take on,' the spokeswoman added.
'As part of the sale to Bain Capital, it agreed to continue to honour existing Virgin credit notes, and the administration process included a federal court decision that endorsed the approach taken to Virgin credits that were outstanding at the time of the administration.'
In similar news, Qantas has also announced that unclaimed flight credits will no longer have expiry dates.
Customers holding Qantas flight credits now have the option to claim a cash refund at any time.
However, they are restricted to using these credits exclusively for flight bookings until the year's end 'due to a system limitation'.
On the other hand, customers with Jetstar credits will not have the option to opt for a cash refund. Instead, they will enjoy the flexibility to employ these credits for booking new flights 'indefinitely'.
You can read more about this here.
If you or anyone you know still have unused COVID flight credits with Virgin Australia, share this article with them to help them stay informed!
Where would your next destination be if you were to use these flight credits? Share it with us in the comments below!
Well, we have some great news for you!
For the third time, Virgin Australia has made a huge change for those with COVID-19 flight credits that are due to expire in a few months.
The COVID-related travel credits, valued at $120 million, were initially set to expire in December. These credits encompass bookings made starting from April 21, 2020, for flights scheduled to depart before July 31, 2022.
Virgin Australia extended the expiration of $120 million worth of travel credits for the third time. Image source: Virgin Australia.
However, due to pressure from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), the airline has extended the expiry date to June 2025!
In a statement, a Virgin spokesperson commented on the decision: 'Virgin Australia has extended its 'COVID Credits' for the third time, giving our customers nearly two more years to use these credits.'
'Customers will now be able to use their 'COVID Credits' to book and fly by June 30th 2025.'
'COVID Credits' are Standard Credits issued on or before 31 July 2022, for bookings made from 21 April 2020 through 31 July 2022.
'During this period, over $1.2 billion of 'COVID Credits' were issued.”
To date, around 90% of those 'COVID Credits' have already been used by customers.
The extension of the credits will be automatically applied to all 'COVID Credits', and the change may take up to two months to reflect in guests' Travel Banks.
These credits can be used to book any Virgin Australia flight and include codeshare flights with partners such as Singapore Airlines, United Airlines, ANA, and Qatar Airways, which also use a VA flight number.
Despite not having the option to refund the credits, using it requires no minimum spend, and the credits are not limited to use by the travellers on the original booking.
It is also important to note that these credits differ from their Future Flight Credits, which were issued for flights cancelled when the airline went into administration in 2020.
An ACCC spokesperson said they encouraged all airlines to extend expiry dates for all COVID-19 flight credits 'to ensure consumers are able to effectively use these credits'.
'This included providing guidance for the travel industry recommending that businesses should allow consumers a reasonable period in which to use Covid-related credits,' the spokesperson said.
However, the ACCC acknowledged that the flight credits issued under Future Flight Credits were a special case.
'In such administration processes, the new business is generally able to choose what liabilities of the old business it will or won’t take on,' the spokeswoman added.
'As part of the sale to Bain Capital, it agreed to continue to honour existing Virgin credit notes, and the administration process included a federal court decision that endorsed the approach taken to Virgin credits that were outstanding at the time of the administration.'
In similar news, Qantas has also announced that unclaimed flight credits will no longer have expiry dates.
Customers holding Qantas flight credits now have the option to claim a cash refund at any time.
However, they are restricted to using these credits exclusively for flight bookings until the year's end 'due to a system limitation'.
On the other hand, customers with Jetstar credits will not have the option to opt for a cash refund. Instead, they will enjoy the flexibility to employ these credits for booking new flights 'indefinitely'.
You can read more about this here.
Where would your next destination be if you were to use these flight credits? Share it with us in the comments below!
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